ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS?

Several posts ago, I mentioned that the heavens were torn or ripped apart in Mark during Jesus's baptism while in Matthew and Luke they were opened. A stark contrast.

The contrast continues in Sunday's lection.

The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness in Mark. In Luke and Matthew, the Spirit leads Jesus. Being driven and being led are very different descriptions. The former conjures an image of Jesus going with hesitation, even reluctance. The latter paints a picture of readiness and willingness.

Wilderness conjures up a lot of ambivalent images for us who study scripture. God appeared to a hardheaded Moses through the burning bush in the wilderness. The Israelites wandered almost aimlessly in the wilderness for decades. Many of them died there, including Moses. John the Baptist was a "voice of one calling in the wilderness." The wilderness does not seem like a very hospitable place. Yet, God's surprises abound in the wilderness!

And then there is the number 40, a long time in scripture. It rained 40 days and nights during the time of Noah. Forty years separated the crossing of the Red Sea and the crossing of the Jordan River. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. Matthew and Luke add that he fasted. This narrative is the basis for the 40 days of Lent.

Most of us grew up imagining that Jesus was alone in the wilderness during those 40 days. He was not. Jesus had company. Wild beasts. Angels. And Satan. God's surprises do abound in the wilderness!

My friends, let us never forget. Satan did not betray Jesus. Judas did. Satan did not deny Jesus. Peter did. Satan did not plot to arrest and kill Jesus in secret. The chief priests and scribes did. Satan did not abduct, torture, and murder Jesus. The Romans did.

Satan is not behind the Anti-Terror Law, the War on the Poor, the War on Drugs, the culture of impunity that pervades our land, the relentless red-tagging of peace activists, the deaths of Baby River and Baby Carlen, or the recent "rescue" of the Lumad Bakwit Iskul children in Cebu City. We all know who are responsible and should be held accountable for all these.

Lent began last Wednesday. Who among us wants to spend 40 days in the wilderness with Satan? Jesus did.

art, "Jesus is Tempted," (JESUS MAFA) from Vanderbilt Divinity Library digital archives